BA Issue 65, May 1, 2013

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Level Up We Have Expert Advice: • Speed Training • Mental Imagery • Persistent Pain • Core Stability

Norcal baseball/Softball:

postseason breakdown

10 Can’t Miss Events

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top norcal draft prospects

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h t i a f g keepin pg18 wants to be faster. But 27 Everybody there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about shaving a few seconds off your best time.

demon: Celina Li of 14 speed Foothill is small, but mighty. bases: NorCal baseball and 22 xtra softball are headed to the playoffs. If people still said ‘giving you the 411’ that’s what we would’ve said.

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pitch: Playoffs. Money 6 first time. Time to put on your big boy britches. Or big girl britches. We like all britches here at SportStars.

What are some of the names to keep an eye on? Well, one is pictured to your left. The rest you have to flip the page to see.

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room: The NFL Draft is 8 locker over. We’ll decipher what you just heard. Because we care. of the Week: 10 SportStars Brad Degnan, Pioneer-San Jose Flip flop over to 26 impulse: Impulse and read about — whoa!

— flip flops! And more. Sweet.

Statisics. It’s that 11 Clipboard: new math that can make some people’s head hurt. Not ours.

We’re, like, good at math. on the cover: Foothill swimmer, Celina Li. Photo by Jonathan Hawthorne.

Fence: Tryouts, sign-ups, 34 The fundraisers and more!

34 Camps + Clinics

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Spring Loaded In the last postseason stretch of this school year, we offer five names you need to see

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t’s here. Already. The final postseason of the 2012-13 school year.

Rather than spend our time wondering how we got here already, we’re gonna give you five names you should know — across five different sports — as you prepare to soak in the final championship drama of the spring.

And, not surprisingly, SportStars has written about each of these athletes over the course of their careers — in two cases, you can find something about them in this very issue.

Let’s start with our Bay Area cover athlete this issue.

Celina Li — The North Coast Section has had no shortage of swimming talent over the years, and the present is no different. But as contributing writer Mitch Stephens points out in his cover story beginning on page 14, Li has dominated in relative anonymity for the past two years. And she’s not just dominating here in the Bay Area, she’s winning on the national stage against Olympic-level athletes. So yeah, we strongly suggest you take the chance to watch her in her last North Coast Section Championships on May 17-18 in Concord.

Marcus Lee — What happens when you take a 6-foot-10 McDonald’s AllAmerican basketball player and stick him in the middle of a boys volleyball rotation featuring one of the best setters in the section? Go watch Deer Valley-Antioch and find out. And while Lee may cut an imposing presence for a Wolverines team which was 35-1 as of April 29, the team’s biggest rising star is Jordan Ewert. The sophomore already has more than 420 kills.

Rowdy Tellez — We’ve been covering Tellez’s baseball career at Elk Grove ever since he was the youngest player invited to participate in the 2011 Area Code Games (the summer after his sophomore year). Now he’s a senior and, predictably, mashing everything in sight. Read more about him on page 10 of our Sac-Joaquin Edition this issue. But more importantly, go watch one of NorCal’s best hitters rake. We suggest the season-ending showdowns against Davis. The teams play at Elk Grove on May 3 and Davis on May 7.

Johanna Grauer — We’d be hard-pressed to think of a better year to follow the NCS Division I softball tournament. Grauer’s Amador Valley-Pleasanton team and James Logan-Union City both remain in the national rankings, and California-San Ramon has proven to be equally dangerous after recently defeating Amador Valley 1-0. We have a hunch that Grauer and her teammates will rise to the occasion in the postseason, however, and the junior flamethrower is always a no-hitter waiting to happen.

Sasha Wallace — Just when the SportStars braintrust was certain it would name Grauer as it’s 2012 Bay Area Athlete of the Spring, Wallace figuratively sprinted to the forefront. She won double-gold at the CIF State Championships, winning the triple jump and 100 high hurdles. She since transferred from Holy Names-Oakland to Castro Valley, and she could bring the Trojans some serious hardware. Her time of 13.55 in the 100 hurdles at the Arcadia Invitational gave her this year’s top high school mark in the nation for the event. Can’t go see her at the CIF state meet in Clovis, catch her at the NCS Meet of Champions at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley on May 24-25.

There you go. Enjoy these last five weeks, and then get ready for us to start talking football again. It’s inevitable. You can’t stop it. ✪

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join our team PHONE 925.566.8500 FAX 925.566.8507 Editorial Editor@SportStarsOnline.com Editor Chace Bryson • Chace@SportStarsOnline. com Staff Writers Erik Stordahl, Jim McCue Contributors Bill Kolb, Mitch Stephens, Matt Smith, Clay Kallam, Bryant West, Dave Kiefer, Liz Elliott, Tim Rudd, Jonathan Okanes, Hunter Hewitt, Joe Stiglich Photography Butch Noble, Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne, James K. Leash, Norbert von der Groeben, Phillip Walton, Doug Guler Intern Ryan Arter Creative Department Art@SportStarsOnline.com Production Manager Mike DeCicco • MikeD@ SportStarsOnline.com Publisher/President Mike Calamusa • Mike@SportStarsOnline.com Advertising & Calendar/ Classified Sales Sales@SportStarsOnline.com, 925.566.8500 Account Executives Erik Stordahl • Erik@SportStarsOnline.com, Phillip Walton • PWalton@SportStarsOnline.com Sac Joaqin edition: Dave Rosales • DaveRosales64@gmail.com Reader Resources/Administration Ad Traffic, Subscription, Calendar & Classified Listings info@SportStarsOnline.com Distribution/Delivery Mags@SportStarsOnline.com Information technology John Bonilla CFO Sharon Calamusa • Sharon@SportStarsOnline.com community SportStars™ Magazine A division of Caliente! Communications, LLC 5356 Clayton Rd., Ste. 222 • Concord, CA 94521 •info@SportStarsOnline.com www.SportStarsOnline.com

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rapidFIRE Least favorite music genre

Last app you downloaded

Heavy Metal

Celeb you’d want to take a selfie with

Reality show you’d want to be on

Luke Bryan

Wipeout

I don’t bowl

Bahamas

Kate Upton

Survivor

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Ecuador

Courtney Kelleher, Las Lomas track

Classical Ryan Kirby, Granada baseball

Top 5 NFL Draft expressions (loosely translated)

SportStars™

May 1, 2013

Farthest you’ve been from home

Draft day has come and gone in the National Football League. The 49ers somehow managed to use their 39 picks to make roughly 400 selections. And one trade. The Raiders were able to parlay their two picks into negative-three selections. But none of that really matters. What matters is the spectacle. The pure unadulterated drama of the thing. Oh. And the lingo. The interwebs is the only entity for which more words in the English language have been invented than the NFL draft. Here are our rough translations of the top five draft-day expressions.

1. Can’t Miss — Golden boy. All-American kid. Kind of guy ably a Florida State product. you loathed in high school because he was too good to be true.

4. Heady — Not very athletic. Doesn’t pass the eye test.

Will NEVER live up to the hype. Probably a USC product.

Sucked at the combine, but had a 4.5 GPA. Good chance he 2. Tremendous Upside Potential — Slacker. Disapwill end up being a position coach after a few lackluster years in pointment. A guy who has the physical tools to dominate at his the league, and will invariably kick your behind at chess. Probposition, but who is too busy playing Madden or trading autoably a Stanford grad. graphs for tattoos to show up for practice on a regular basis.

5. Risk-Reward Scenario — A head case. As likely to be Probably an Ohio State product. an All-Pro as he is to be the subject of an All Points Bulletin. Pick 3. Physicality — The potential and propensity to do vicious an SEC team. bodily harm to anyone around him. Violent. Dangerous. Prob— Bill Kolb

BOYS VOLLEYBALL: CIF NorCal Championships, May 25, Dublin HS — The first-ever CIF Northern Regional Boys Volleyball tournament will culminate in a doubleheader of championship matches for Division I and Division II. There should be no shortage of drama.

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Top bowling score

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SOFTBALL: SJS Div. I-III Tournament, first round, May 14, various sites — The SJS playoffs never fail to disappoint.

Div. II field should be extra competitive.

SWIMMING: NCS Swimming Championships, May 18, Concord Community Pool — Can Steven Stumph, Sven Campbell and the Campolindo boys make it nine in a row?

RUGBY: N (NCIT), Ma Complex — 50 of the N BOYS TEN Doubles fi Moraga, M pick-up ma kids can ha

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accolades

1. De La Salle

5,050

SStar/Season: 1. League titles: 4. All-State Athletes: 1.

Section titles: 6. Scholastic: 1. NorCal: 1. State: 1

2. Bishop O'Dowd 3. James Logan

4,400

SStar/Season: 1. League titles: 6. All-State Athletes: 1.

Section titles: 4. Scholastic: 1. NorCal: 1. State: 1

3,200

League titles: 4. Section titles: 8.

4. Campolindo 5. St. Joesph Notre Dame

3,150

League titles: 4. All-State Athletes: 1. Section titles: 3.

NorCal: 1. State: 1

3,150

League titles: 4. All-State Athletes: 1. Section titles: 3.

NorCal: 1. State: 1

6. Albany 7. Mission San Jose

2,600

League titles: 2. All-State Athletes: 1. Section titles: 3.

Scholastic: 1. State: 1

2,550

League titles: 1. Section titles: 2. Scholastic: 5.

8. Berkeley 9. San Ramon Valley

2,350

League titles: 1. Section titles: 2. Scholastic: 1.

NorCal: 1. State: 1

2,250

League titles: 2. Section titles: 3. Scholastic: 2.

10. Clayton Valley

2,000

League titles: 2. Section titles: 2.

Runners-up

Points

11. Heritage........................1,550 12. Las Lomas....................1,350 13. St. Patrick/St. Vincent... 1,300 14. Miramonte.....................1,250 15. College Park.................1,100 16. (tie) Monte Vista...........1,000

Northern California Invit. Tourn. ay 3-5, Cherry Island Soccer — 9th NCIT features as many as North State’s top programs.

NNIS: NCS DIv. I Singles/ final four, Saint Mary’s College, May 4, 10 a.m. — These aren’t atches at the country club, these andle a racquet.

Carondelet.......................1,000 Salesian...........................1,000 19. California.......................950 20. (tie) Liberty....................900 Newark Memorial............900 22. (tie) Acalanes................800 Dublin...............................800

CIF NorCal Tournament, May 20, Diablo Grande Golf Course, Patterson, all day — If you’re one of the lucky people who have Mondays off, do yourself a favor and walk the course with some of the best boys golfing talent in the state.

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24. (tie) Nortgate.................750

Freedom..........................500

Piedmont..........................750

Deer Valley......................500

26. (tie) Granada................600

St. Mary’s.........................500

Hercules...........................600

Valley Christian................500

Livermore.........................600

Pittsburg...........................500

29. (tie) Foothill...................500

Hayward...........................500

BASEBALL: NCS Div. I-V playoffs, first round, May 21-22, various sites— Nothing beats playoff baseball on a sunny day.

LACROSSE: NCS Finals, May 24-25, site/time TBA — NCS often pairs one or two finals together; look for the doubleheader and catch the lax fever!

The SportStars Cup competition is back for its second year. As a quick reminder, the competition runs the length of the school year and culminates in mid-June with the crowning of the East Bay’s most successful high school athletic program.

Schools can accumulate points through a variety of ways. They are as follows: 100 — Have an athlete named SportStars of the Year (Fall, Winter or Spring) 200 — Win a team league championship 250 — Have an athlete be named AllState (First-team overall only) 300 — Win a section championship (team or individual) 350 — Win a scholastic section championship for highest team GPA 400 — Win an individual NorCal title 500 — Win a team NorCal title 700 — Win an individual state championship 1,000 — Win a team state championship With nearly all the winter scoring opportunities accounted for — All-State basketball selections were not released until after we went to press — De La Salle has moved into a comfortable lead atop the standings thanks to three more league titles and five more section crowns. The Spartans, who finished second in the final Cup standings for 2011-12, are clearly in the driver’s seat heading into the spring postseason. The school’s victory could very well come down to the boys golf team and CIF NorCal- and state-championship hopeful, Justin Pagila.

There are four new teams to the Top 10 after the winter season concluded.

The biggest mover of them all was James Logan. The Colts went a tie for 19th all the way up to third thanks to a 2800-point increase fueled by eight section titles in wrestling. The three other teams to enter the Top 10 were Mission San Jose, Berkeley and San Ramon Valley.

Defending champion Campolindo had a quiet winter and slipped to fifth after a dominant fall. However, it’s worth pointing out that the Cougars trailed De La Salle by more than 1,000 points heading into last spring and came out victorious.

That’s why they play the games. Right?

BOYS hoops: Bay Area Memorial Wknd Classic, Tice Valley Gym, Walnut Creek, May 25-27 — Big Foot Hoops hosts its first Bay Area event. You like watching mix-tapes? Catch a live version.

TRACK AND FIELD: CIF Track & Field State Championships, May 31-June Want more?

1, Buchanan HS, Clovis — Few states Scan for five have a more competitive state meet. bonus events!

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Brad Degnan made nationwide headline news when he bashed three home runs not just in one game but in one inning. He helped the Wildcats tattoo Westmoor 24-6 on April 18 as they batted around twice for Degnan to make history.

He’s the only HS baseball player to accomplish this feat. Needless to say, he was a unanimous choice for this week’s top honor.

SportStars Magazine: Describe the craziness of that three-homer inning.

Brad Degnan: The first one: the leadoff man got on, then the next guy. I’m up third. I saw two pitches and I poked it down the line. Second at-bat, there’s only one runner on and I got a belt-high fastball. I got it all. Third at-bat, there were two runners on, first pitch was a low fastball and I hit a low line drive and it got over the fence. Usually, I don’t show any emotion but I had a smile on my third one.

SSM: What’s your general approach at the plate?

BD: Generally I pull the ball.

Whenever we’re up and there’s a good situation, I kinda just go with the pitch.

SSM: How have your classmates received you?

BD: I got a couple congratulations and the Monday we got back to school I got a lot of congratulations from friends. People saw the articles on Facebook and on the news on Yahoo!

May 1, 2013

honorable mention

brad degnan

Frank Kurtz

pioneer-san jose . baseball . junior

The Heritage junior set a meet record at the Sacramento Meet of Champions with a 400 time of 47.03 seconds.

nate moore With a triple jump distance of 49 feet, 10 inches, the Castro Valley senior set a meet record at the Sacramento Meet of Champions on April 27.

kirsten mork

Contributed BRAD’S QUICK HITS Favorite athlete(s): Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano Favorite baseball team: Giants Favorite class: History

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The Granada junior cleared 5 feet, 8 inches at the Sacramento Meet of Champions, good for first place and sixth overall in the state.

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My softball coach only looks at batting average. I get a lot of walks and hit for power, so my OPS is high, but my coach doesn’t care. When I ask about why I’m not playing, he just says my batting average is too low.

How can I get him to understand more advanced statistics, and that OPS is much more important than batting overage?

J.S., Fremont

his is a tough one.

First, you have to remember that Bill James started writing about sabermetrics — which is the use of advanced statistical methods to analyze baseball (and softball) and improve decisionmaking — in the 1980s. His logic was impeccable and his methods brilliant — but it took nearly 20 years before people in this multi-million dollar Major League Baseball industry took him and his followers seriously.

If you saw “Moneyball,” you know that the use of advanced metrics was scoffed at by some in 2003, even though they could not only help teams win, they could help teams make a significant amount of money.

Yes, it’s 2013 now, but some coaches still believe that feel and intuition are superior to raw data, and so it’s probably not that your coach thinks OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) is not as good as batting average, he probably just thinks that all stats aren’t that important.

Remember statisticians always warn about a small sample size, and the entire high school season is still a very

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small sample size — that means that the numbers aren’t as reliable as they are in the big leagues. Obviously, if you have a 162-game schedule to look at, a lot of the luck in hitting (and pitching) evens out, but in a 30-game season, it doesn’t take many caught line drives or diving catches to seriously deflate both batting average and OPS. That said, though, the importance of walks and extra-base hits cannot be underemphasized.

The idea of the game is to score more runs than the opposition, and to score runs, a team needs baserunners and a way to advance them to home plate. Statistics have made it crystal clear that a player who walks a lot is not much less valuable than a player who hits a lot of singles, and that doubles and triples are significantly more valuable than infield hits.

In the long run, a coach who ignores those realities will lose more games than he should. In the short run, though, coaching is about talent — in softball, primarily pitching talent — so if your team is really good, your coach will see no reason to change.

That’s probably not the answer you wanted, but you can’t force people to look at the world the way you do, even if you happen to be right. Sometimes you just have to accept the way things are and deal with it with as much of a positive attitude as you can muster. ✪ Clay Kallam is an assistant athletic director and girls varsity basketball coach at Bentley High in Lafayette. To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email Coach Kallam at clayk@fullcourt.com

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It’s a philosophy battle that few coaches will yield to

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Phillip Walton

Orinda-based swim coaches Don Heidary (left) and his twin brother Ron pose with 11-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson at the Positive Coaching Alliance National Youth Sports Awards Dinner on April 20.

words from the

Zen Master

When an 11-time NBA Champion coach nicknamed The Zen Master speaks, we listen. Here were a few extra thoughts shared by Phil Jackson at the PCA National Youth Sports Awards Dinner.

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On why he was hesitant to go into coaching:

‘It’s kinda like the Groucho Marx thing: I’m wary of anybody that would accept me into a club.’

On his initial concern about coaching NBA players:

‘Dealing with the ego-driven players that we have in the NBA is sometimes a task that can compromise who you are as a person or an individual. And those were things that I thought were really difficult for us to deal with as coaches.’

On his high school coach Rob Peterson, who passed away two days prior to the awards night:

‘One of the things I mentioned when I talked about him was what a good Christian man he was. And sometimes people mistake that for some kind of identifying idea about religion.

But, no, it’s about a principled person that has character; he taught that. He was instrumental in just using the opportunity of coaching to help build character in players and demonstrated it in his own life.”

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Wisdom in Winning H

By erik stordahl | SportStars

undreds of people were on hand for the Positive Coaching Alliance National Youth Sports Awards Dinner on April 20. The event took place at the Sharon Heights Country Club in Menlo Park and honored four coaches who are well-respected in the youth sports landscape.

Founded by Jim Johnson, former athletic director at Stanford, PCA promotes positive coaching and fair play in youth sports. PCA has been around since 1998 and is endorsed by a litany of marquee coaches and athletes nationwide.

On hand for the festivities was perhaps the most revered coach in American pro sports, Phil Jackson. An 11-time NBA champion, Jackson received the Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement.

“The idea is so prevalent in our society right now, that coaches have to build more than just winning teams,” Jackson said. “It’s about character, it’s about success coming from bringing that to the athletes who have a chance. It’s about the ability to step in and honor the game.”

The coach nicknamed the “Zen Master” has been a spokesperson for PCA since 1998, giving speeches at various functions and awards ceremonies; this night, it was his turn to be the keynote speaker.

The Master of Ceremonies was former San Ramon ValleyDanville standout Mark Madsen, who helped lead Stanford to the Final Four in 1998 and won three NBA championship with the Lakers from 2000-2002 — while playing for Jackson.

“The high school game is really where the rubber meets the road,” said Madsen, who is now an assistant coach for the Stanford men’s basketball team, “in terms of having a big impact on young, young people. At the pro level, most of the time you’re dealing with grown men.”

Madsen played basketball for John Raynor, who is still coaching basketball at SRV. Madsen talked about the major influence Raynor had on him to get into coaching.

“Just the impact with basketball with John Raynor and the school environment had on my life was huge. And I wanted to get back, and I had a perfect opportunity this year to do so at Stanford.”

Heather Petri, a member of the 2012 gold-medal winnning US Olympic women’s water polo team, played water polo at Miramonte-Orinda where one of her first coaches was Don Heidary. He, along with his twin brother Ron, were two of the recipients of PCA’s Double-Goal Coach Award. Petri named Don as the reason she kept with water polo.

“I think he believed in me more than I did at that time,” Petri said. “I was so young, I had no idea. I was very new to water polo at a late age and I couldn’t really see the path that I wanted to go down. And he was so sure of it and so good at helping me see it that I really think I jumped into the sport a little bit more just because of him.”

The Heidary brothers run the Orinda Aquatic Center and coach at rival schools, Don at Campolindo and Ron at Miramonte. “We’ve been coaching together for 35 years,” Don Heidary said. “In addition to coaching together, we coach rival high schools which adds to the intensity and complexity of the dynamic.”

The other coaches honored alongside the Heidary brothers were Palo Alto Soccer Club coach Jackie Castro, and re-

nowned AAU basketball coach Rasheed Najeeullah for the Riverside Hawks of New York. These four coaches comprised a panel at the awards ceremony where they each answered questions regarding a variety of topics such as reacting to tough losses, hazing of younger athletes, and instilling leadership qualities with some of their elder athletes.

The key thing each of these coaches stresses is that their

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Bay Area coaches honored while the Positive Coaching Alliance Awards Dinner gets a dash of Zen players are student-athletes with an emphasis on the former. If their players don’t meet the GPA requirements installed by the coaches, then they simply won’t play. And for them it doesn’t matter if it’s the championship game, the rules still apply.

Qualities like that are why these coaches go beyond just being good, but end up being most influential in these young athletes’ lives. ✪

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A

t long last, it was Celina Li’s shining moment at Foothill High.

The massively accomplished, humble and under-appreciated senior swimmer was competing in her final home meet against California on April 26.

Foothill coach Lauren Andrade, a former Cal swimmer and Olympic Trial competitor, had spread the word to fellow teachers and administrators and students that Li was finishing out an illustrious and largely un-noticed prep career.

Un-noticed considering she is one of the elite athletes for her age in her sport in the world.

“We’re talking about a once-in-a-generation talent,” Andrade said. “We’re talking a national champion, a girl who has swam all over the world and almost assuredly will be swimming in Rio De Janeiro (site of the 2016 Summer Games).”

Producing four North Coast Section titles and a section record in the 100-yard butterfly (53.13 seconds) should have been enough to draw anyone’s attention.

By Mitch stephens | Contributor

Pleasanton’s Celina Li has always been a natural in the pool

master

flow

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Photos by Jonathan Hawthorne

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Longtime Pleasanton Seahawks head coach Steve Morsilli felt the same way, though he’s been around hundreds of elite athletes as a coach for USA Swimming all over the world. The Level 5 coach, which ranks him in the top 2 percent in the nation, has coached in Pleasanton since 1975 and led the Seahawks for 31 years.

His first impressions of Li were “she’s quiet and very intense. She takes her academics and swimming very serious. Maybe too serious.”

SMALL PACKAGE, BIG PICTURE

Don’t get the notion that Andrade is in any way bitter about Li’s relative lack of local notoriety.

Part of it is the sport and mostly it’s Li’s unassuming and graceful nature. Andrade said she’s never seen such a humble, deflecting elite swimmer.

It is why she’s so popular among her peers and teammates.

“It’s always been about team first with Celina,” Andrade said. “She’s always been gracious and kind with her teammates. She’s embarrassed when she receives praise. It’s so refreshing for a swimmer of this caliber.”

Part of it might be her culture.

Her father Phillip is Taiwanese and mother Yvonne is Chinese. They met at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

Celina was born in Wisconsin, seven years after her sister Jing, who was a highly competitive swimmer herself, earning a scholarship to Georgia Tech.

Following a successful four-year swim career there, she joined the Peace Corp and served for a spell in the Ukraine.

“She was definitely my role model,” Li said of her sister. “I grew up watching her in the pool and meets and I wanted to be like her.”

Said Andrade: “Her parents have done a great job. Both the girls are such great achievers and do exceptional things, but they don’t expect praise.”

Li was also a competitive gymnast, which helped with strength and flexibility. She started both sports at the age of 5 and enjoyed them equally. But she gave up gymnastics at Level 5.

“Ultimately, I felt like swimming was less dangerous,” she said. “I just felt very natural in the water. There was flow, I felt.”

Her dad, an electrical engineer, moved the family from Palo Alto to North Carolina to the Phoenix area, where Li made a name for herself in the youth ranks.

When the family moved to Pleasanton, right before Li’s freshman year at Foothill, Andrade knew she and the Falcons had hit gold. “I’d heard the name before,” Andrade said. “I thought, what a treat. How lucky was I?”

GO WITH THE FLOW

The NCS has produced some of the sport’s greatest athletes — Matt Biondi (Campolindo) and Natalie Coughlin (Carondelet ) — and to take home six golds (she’s heavily favored to capture two more individual titles on May 17-18 at Concord Community Pool in Concord) is more than noteworthy.

But last November at the AT&T Winter National Championships in Austin, Texas, the 5-foot-3 dynamo — nicknamed “Lil’ C” by teammates — won the national 200 individual medley in 1 minute, 55.28 seconds and was second in the 400 IM (4:07.95).

In the 200 IM, she beat, among others, Olympic darling and future Cal teammate Missy Franklin, who placed third.

Everyone on the sporting planet knows of Franklin, but few even at Foothill really comprehended Li’s elite athletic prowess. Andrade sent out a memo to make sure everyone was clear on Li’s feats.

So with the pool deck full and cameras clicking and video rolling, the stage was set for Li to make a grand entrance, to bask in her richly-deserved glory, to play princess for a day and wave and fawn and soak it all in.

Instead, Li dropped to her knees.

There were kids to speak with.

“Friends and onlookers were ready to take her picture, but suddenly she was surrounded by children,” Andrade said. “She immediately got down to their level and was asking them all sorts of questions. This was her time, her moment but instead the kids were way more important for her. It was a beautiful moment.

“It was so Celina.”

Morsilli’s No. 1 goal with Li was teaching relaxing drills and keeping her loose. Li’s technique and strokes were, and have always been, impeccable — “She doesn’t have a weak stroke,” Morsilli said. “Most great swimmers have 3.5 strokes, but her gift is she has all four.”

“At first I did a lot of joking with her,” Morsilli said. “Then I did a lot of yelling. I’m not sure what she thought of me.

Probably thought I was a little weird. But as her talent has risen and her accomplishments have increased, the pressure mounts.

“Four years ago when Celina Li had a bad race nobody noticed. But like any elite swimmer, now if she has a bad race, everyone wants to know what’s wrong with Celina. Is she sick? Is she unhappy? You get assaulted by the public when in reality, you just had a bad race. It happens. It happened to Michael Phelps at the last Olympics. Everyone assumed this and that but he had a bad race. It happens to everyone and Celina needed to realize it.”

Li fully admits that she often applies too much pressure on herself and that she’s had a love-hate relationship with the pool.

Three times a week she has to rise at 4 a.m. for morning workouts. She trains roughly 20 hours a week on top of her studies. Somehow she’s maintained a 3.90 GPA. “It’s definitely not always smooth sailing,” Li said. “It’s hard and you have to remind yourself what your goals are.”

In the spring of 2012, Li said she almost considered giving up the sport. Between SAT testing, recruiting, NCS and Olympic Trials, it almost overwhelmed her.

“There was a point I wondered is it really all worth it,” she said. “But of course had I quit I knew I would regret it. Those are all small bumps in the road that all swimmers experience.

Once you get over it, you feel a lot better.”

It’s helped to have her sister and parents, Andrade and

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Morsilli to talk things over with.

It’s also helped to train with faster athletes, such as national team members Catherine Breed (Cal) and Allison Brown (Stanford) among the women, and Nick Silverthorn and Maxime Rooney of Granada High, and Foothill freshmen Tony Shen, among the boys.

No matter whom she competes again, there is no one with more precise strokes or who is shorter. “You don’t see a whole lot of shorties like me,” Li said with a laugh. “I like being short though. I wouldn’t change my height at all.”

ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM Morsilli admits that “generally a longer boat is a faster boat. … The longer boat has an advantage.”

But he also says: “Celina streamlines beautifully. Her body just disappears in the water. She squeezes and pushes off the wall powerfully. She just zooms.”

Said Andrade: “She may be small, but she always swims big. She has the heart of a lion. She swims with such courage.

She’s fearless and unafraid.”

Andrade is looking forward to see how Cal coach Teri McKeever will develop Li. “The thing about Celina is that she’s just so versatile,” Andrade said. “She’s just scratching the surface to all she can do.

(McKeever) is known to get the most out of swimmers like she did with Natalie Coughlin.”

But thinking of coaching next season without Li is sort of surreal to Andrade. “You can’t replace a Celina Li,” Andrade said. “It’s not just the points she scores, but it’s her presence.

The way she conducts herself which makes it so easy for everyone else to follow suit. How do you replace that? You can’t.” ✪ Mitch Stephens is a national columnist with MaxPreps.com

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Records through April 27 (source: MaxPreps.com) Rank (prev) Team Record 1. (1)

St. Francis-Mountain View

24-1

2. (3)

Casa Grande-Petaluma

19-1

3. (4)

Granada-Livermore

18-0

4. (5)

Davis

18-5

5. (6)

Elk Grove

18-4

6. (7)

De La Salle-Concord

12-5

7. (8)

Campolindo-Moraga

12-6-1

8. (2)

Serra-San Mateo

20-5

9. (9)

Jesuit-Carmichael

16-5

10. (11)

Bellarmine-San Jose

19-6

11. (15)

Clayton Valley Charter-Concord

14-3

12. (14)

San Benito-Hollister

20-4

13. (18)

Woodcreek-Roseville

15-5

14. (NR)

Bradshaw Christian-Sacramento 18-5

15. (NR)

Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills

13-8

16. (13)

Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove

16-6

17. (17)

James Logan-Union City

11-6

18. (NR)

Pioneer-Woodland

16-7

19. (NR)

College Park-Pleasant Hill

12-4-1

20. (NR)

Bella Vista-Fair Oaks

15-7

DROPPED OUT No. 10 St. Ignatius-S.F., No. 12 Granite Bay, No. 16 Valley Christian-San Jose, No. 19 El Cerrito and No. 20 Amador Valley-Pleasanton.

BIGGEST MOVERS Bradshaw Christian took the biggest jump of the week by entering the rankings for the first time at No. 14. The Pride has wont seven straight, including a 5-1 victory over then-No. 6 Elk Grove on April 27. St. Ignatius took the biggest fall as it dropped from the No. 10 spot all the way out of rankings after losing four of five.

TEAMS STILL RANKED FROM PRESEASON TOP 20: 13 KNOCKING ON THE DOOR St. Ignatius-S.F. (15-10), Granite Bay (12-8), Valley Christian-San Jose (14-10), El Cerrito (14-6-1), Amador Valley-Pleasanton (12-6), Wilcox-Santa Clara (19-8), Washington-Fremont (14-5), Freedom-Oakley (13-5), Acalanes-Lafayette (13-6), Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (15-10), St. Mary’s-Berkeley (12-4).

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LOCKED IN Experience, pitching, depth are one thing, but the Granada baseball team’s torrid start is built on unwavering trust and confidence

B

By Chace Bryson | Editor

aseball, like most sports, rewards consistency.

And Granada High had shown remarkable consistency in winning its first 17 games of the regular season.

But momentum in baseball can be fickle.

And on this late April afternoon in Livermore, baseball was fighting back against Granada.

Alex Barden, a junior pitching for a visiting San Ramon Valley team which had lost four of its last five games, had found a groove. And a Matadors offense which was batting over .300 as a team and averaging more than seven runs a game, had mustered just one run on four hits through six innings.

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Granada trailed 3-1. For the first time in 18 games, the Matadors trailed going into their last at bat.

“That’s when it really shows the type of team you are,” Granada right fielder Casey Soltis said. “You really can show your true grit.”

Baseball rewards patience, too.

Soltis, who struck out with a runner on third to end the sixth inning, watched from the dugout as Matadors designated hitter Craig Woolson earned a leadoff walk on four pitches from reliever Conor Neumann. Vince Fernandez followed Woolson by drawing a seven-pitch walk.

But then Dan Whitney struck out. One down, the tying runs Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.com

on first and second.

“On any team I’ve ever played for you have the raw talent guy, a couple kids who are solidified and know the game, and you have the kid who is just swinging it,” Soltis said. “But we’re locked in, and we have all the guys in the lineup so dialed in on what we need to do.

The guy next to you is another hand. It’s unbelievable to have that confidence in the guy next to you.”

Baseball sometimes requires a little luck.

Miles Mastrobuoni followed Whitney by hitting a high chopper of a ground ball that San Ramon Valley’s third baseman lost in the sun and was unable to field the high hop cleanly. Everybody was safe. Bases loaded.

Winning run at first.

Ryan Dearborn draws a walk. 3-2.

Matt Richards draws a walk. Tie game.

Pitching change, San Ramon Valley.

Jordan Thraikill stood next to Granada coach Corrigan Willis as he watched Conner Stahl warm-up. Willis and Thraikill shared a quick word as the home crowd buzzed with anticipation. Then Granada’s senior catcher stepped into the batter’s box looking for a fastball he could hit for a sacrifice fly.

Stahl threw a curveball. Thraikill wasn’t fooled. He hit a sharp ground ball right back over the pitcher’s mound and into centerfield for the game-winning hit.

And in a win that was unlike any of the Matadors’ previous 17, the Granada team may have best displayed the qualities which made it the state’s only remaining undefeated team as of April 29.

The senior-laden roster is not only deep, experienced and talented, but it’s confidence level is in the stratosphere at this point.

“I would say they all trust each other,” said Willis, a Granada alum who is now in his fifth season at the helm of the program after four years under former coach Tony Battilega.

“They feed off each other. They are committed to each other. There’s nobody worried about when they take an 0-for-3 as long as we get the win. And that’s kind of a rare thing nowadays. That’s what this team exemplifies right now.”

Granada opened the week of April 29 ranked No. 4 in the state by CalHiSports.com, and were No. 37 in MaxPreps.com’s Xcellent 50 National Rankings. But this start wasn’t from out of the blue.

The Matadors finished the season 17-10 a year ago after a 9-3 North Coast Section Division I semifinals loss to fellow East Bay Athletic League foe, and eventual NCS champ, De La Salle. They would walk off the field knowing that as many as 13 would be returning for 2013 season, including eight of the nine starters.

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Ali Thanawalla

Granada starting pitcher Anthony Olmo fires a pitch against San Ramon Valley on April 26.

LEFT: Vince Fernandez, left, and Matty Proetel celebrate after Fernandez scored the game’s tying run.

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Granada has already avenged that postseason loss to De La Salle, shutting out the Spartans 4-0 on April 17 in Livermore. It was the first of their two league matchups, and the win was echoed by more than a few Matadors as the moment the team’s confidence reached a new level.

“We knew we were good before that,” senior left fielder Ryan Kirby said, “but beating the defending NCS champ really meant a lot to us. It made us feel like we were legit.”

Still, Willis knows runs like this can’t be expected.

“You don’t expect to go on a streak like this,” the coach said. “This is uncharted territory. This is major. We’ve taken the approach of worrying about the next opponent and the next pitch. As long as we win each battle, win each at bat and go in with that focus, we’ll continue to be successful.”

Much of what drives the Granada team is a deep-rooted chemistry stemming from several of the seniors all having played with each other since they were 9- and 10-years old.

Some go back even further.

“I’ve known Casey Soltis and Kyle Campiotti my whole entire life it seems,” Kirby said after the game.

Kirby is the team’s biggest run-producer at the plate. Through his first 18 games, the University of San Diego-bound outfielder was batting .404 with 21 hits (eight for extra bases) and a team-leading 19 RBI. Soltis has

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First baseman and leadoff hitter Matt Richards connects for one of his two hits against San Ramon Valley. Richards led the Matadors in both hits (23) and runs scored (17) through the team’s first 18 games.

20 hits and 13 RBI, and leadoff batter Matt Richards leads the team with 23 hits and 17 runs scored. He also has 14 RBI. Kirby and Soltis, a junior who has signed a letter of intent to Oregon, make up two-thirds of an all-future collegiate outfield. Fernandez,

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the senior center fielder, has accepted an offer to play for UC Irvine.

But as good as the team’s offense has been, it’s the starting pitching duo of Jacob Payne and Anthony Olmo that has really been a pleasant surprise for the Matadors.

Olmo picked up the win against San Ramon Valley, giving up three earned runs early — to swell his season ERA to a miniscule 0.92 — but settled down to retire nine of his last 10 batters. It was his eighth win of the season and came two days after Payne picked up his ninth of the season with a 5-0 shutout of Livermore.

Payne’s ERA is an astounding 0.13 after giving up just two runs (one earned) in his first 53 innings of work. He’s allowed just 30 hits, struck out 71 and walked 15.

“Everyone knew Payne had the potential, but it was just whether or not everything clicked for him in terms of throwing strikes and hitting spots,” Kirby said. “And that’s happened this year. Everything is coming together for him. And his stuff is nasty.”

Willis couldn’t say enough about both starting pitchers.

“The two starting pitchers have been outstanding,” Willis said. “When that started to materialize, I knew we had something special with the way these guys were throwing. They have come up huge all year.”

But after the team’s 18th straight victory, as country music blared over the sound system of Granada’s home field, Soltis embraced the moment and emphasized what it meant.

“Everybody has just bought into what we’re trying to do, and that’s to get to June 1 — the NCS championship game.” ✪

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It’s Down To This

Analyzing homestretch for NCS, SJS baseball & softball

With two weeks remaining before the baseball and softball postseasons begin across Northern California, we take a look at some of the key league races as well as teams and players to watch in the North Coast and Sac-Joaquin Sections.

NORTH COAST BASEBALL ›› TEAMS TO WATCH: Division I — Granada-Livermore, De La Salle-Concord, Amador Valley-Pleasanton, James Logan-Union City. Division II — Casa Grande-Petaluma, CampolindoMoraga, Clayton Valley Charter-Concord, College Park-Pleasant Hill, WashingtonFremont. DIvision III — Acalanes-Lafayette, El Cerrito, Drake-San Anselmo.

Division IV — St. Mary’s-Berkeley, Salesian-Richmond, Justin-Siena-Napa. ›› BEST LEAGUE RACE: It doesn’t receive the fanfare of some other East Bay leagues, but the Mission Valley Athletic League was an intense three-team race heading. Washington-Fremont held a onePhillip Walton game lead over James Logan-Union City Robbie Tenerowicz, and Newark Memorial, and the Huskies still Campolindo had league meetings scheduled against both teams. They travel to James Logan on May 10 and host Newark Memorial on May 15. James Logan and Newark Memorial also face off against one another on May 8. ›› QUEST FOR FOUR: When it opened the year with a 2-4 mark, there were probably a few who wondered if Campolindo (featured on the cover of SportStars’ Bay Area Baseball/Softball Preview) was going to be the newest victim of a cover jinx. Well, not so fast. After falling to that 2-4 record on March 19, the Cougars went 10-2-1 over their next 13 games and were unbeaten against NorCal teams during that stretch. So despite the early hiccups, there’s every reason to believe that Campolindo will go into the Division II playoffs as the favorite to win a fourth consecutive NCS crown — which would tie the NCS modern era record for consecutive baseball titles. The other programs to accomplish it were St. Vincent-Petaluma (1986-89) and Casa Grande-Petaluma (2004-07). ›› DIVISION I DANCE: In the four years since the NCS realigned the baseball playoffs from regional tournaments to an overall divisional format, four different teams have won the Division I title: Freedom (2009), Amador Valley (2010), James Logan (2011) and De La Salle (2012).

Granada, which is the odds-on favorite to be the top seed in the field, has a chance to make it 5-for-5. If the Matadors two starting pitchers, Jacob Payne and Anthony Olmo, continue to hold opponents to a .161 batting average, then the changes are high.

SAC-JOAQUIN BASEBALL ›› TEAMS TO WATCH: Division I — Elk Grove, Jesuit-Carmichael, Davis, Rocklin, Woodcreek-Roseville, Granite Bay, Turlock, Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove. Division II — Del CampoFair Oaks, Benicia, Bella Vista-Fair Oaks, Rosemont-Sacramento. Division III — WhitneyRocklin, Antelope, Lincoln, Pioneer-Woodland, Colfax, Yuba City. Division IV — Central Catholic-Modesto, Vista del Lago-Folsom, Ceres, Manteca. ›› BEST LEAGUE RACE: The Pioneer Valley League title will likely not be decided until the

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final out of the regular season is recorded on May 8 when Colfax and Lincoln play the second of two games. The Falcons have not lost since March 27 when they fell to Div. III favorite Whitney 6-4 at the River City Classic, and momentum could be in head coach Tim Day’s favor. Colfax junior David Campbell (.512, 20 runs, 20 RBI) and senior Devon Loomis (.511, 19 runs, 25 RBI) are having an internal battle for the team batting title while Lincoln is led by sluggers Ethan Liddle (.560, 23 runs, 19 RBI) and Isaiah Garcia (.500, 30 runs, 27 RBI). ›› PROLIFIC PANTHERS: Benicia outfielder Fred Williams leads all Div. II hitters with a .489 batting average and is second with an .894 slugging percentage. The junior has driven in 22 runs and scored 21 times while collecting 23 hits, including 11 for extra bases. Head coach Jim Bowles’ team sports a .331 team average and has scored 198 runs in 23 games. ›› SEASON-ENDING SHOWDOWN: Delta Valley rivals and perennial section title contenders Elk Grove and Davis will square off in a home-and-home set to conclude the regular season and probably crown the league champion and possibly No. 1 seed in Division I. The Thundering Herd are loaded with talent and power, including seniors Rowdy Tellez (.448, 6 HR, 26 RBI) and Dom Nunez (.421, 3 HR, 27 RBI), while the Blue Devils employ more of a small-ball approach. Davis has just one homer as a team, and freshman Ryan Kreidler leads the team with 19 RBI. The matchup of Davis vs. Goliath should be an exciting prelude to the playoffs.

NORTH COAST SOFTBALL ›› TEAMS TO WATCH: Division I — Amador Valley-Pleasanton, California-San Ramon, James Logan-Union City. Division

II — Alhambra-Martinez, Concord, Clayton Valley CharterConcord, Petaluma. Division III — Terra Linda-San Rafael, Analy-Sebastapol, San Marin-Novato, Acalanes-Lafayette, Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland. Division IV — Salesian-Richmond, Cloverdale, Lower Lake, Fortuna. ›› BEST LEAGUE RACE: Cross-town rivals Concord and Clayton Valley are on a collision course for a two-day battle on May 14 and 16 that could determine the Diablo Valley Athletic League title, and could also send ripples through the NCS Div. II seeding process. Concord is the defending Div. II champion and entered the week of April 29 having won 11 straight.

Clayton Valley was also winners of 11 in a row with its last loss coming on March15 to Alameda. ›› PARTY CRASHERS: Perhaps the most exciting development to the NCS softball landscape happened on April 16 when California threw its visor into the ring as serious Div. I title contender by beating Amador Valley. Pitcher Lindsey Chalmers and the rest of the Grizzlies had teased at upsetting the Dons in the past, but could never quite pull it off — that included a 1-0 loss in the Queen of the Mountain Tournament final on March 16. One month later, Chalmers flipped the script by shutting out Amador Valley by scattering five hits and striking out seven. The two teams, along with James Logan, should provide some fireworks in the postseason. ›› SUPER SOPH: Salesian began the year winning 14 of its first 15 games — and should be a heavy-favorite in Div. IV — thanks to the bat of sophomore Meghan Bradbury. The infielder/catcher entered the final week of April with a .628 batting average and seven home runs and 27 RBI. And perhaps most impressive for a young talent, she has just two strikeouts in 51 at bats.

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champion Elk Grove), Vintage-Napa has taken on all comers in compiling an unblemished record through April 29. The Crushers have dominated the Monticello Empire League, ›› TEAMS TO WATCH: Division I — Vintage-Napa, outscoring league foes by an average of 8-1. Sophomore Woodcreek-Roseville, Tracy, Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove, Oak pitcher Emily Oestreich has struck out a division-best 226 Ridge-El Dorado Hills, Elk Grove, St. Francis-Sacramento, batters in just 140.1 innings pitched through 23 games.

Merced. Division II — Rocklin, Casa Roble-Orangevale, Senior Kacie Burnett leads the offense with a .494 batting Roseville, Benicia, Christian Brothers-Sacramento, Mcaverage, 37 runs, and 36 stolen Clatchy-Sacramento. Division III — bases in 37 attempts.

Whitney-Rocklin, Vanden-Fairfield, ›› WORKHORSE: When a team Pioneer-Woodland, Cordova, Woodfaces Casa Roble, there is never any land. Division IV — Sierra-Manteca, doubt as to who will be in the circle Oakdale, East Union-Manteca, for the Rams. Senior Kaitlyn Garcia Cosumnes Oaks-Elk Grove, Union has pitched every out of every inning Mine-El Dorado, Central Catholicsince she joined the varsity team as a Modesto. sophomore in 2011. Now, more than ›› BEST LEAGUE RACE: The 450 innings and 55 wins later, Garcia Capital League got tighter at the top is seeking another section championwith Antelope’s 4-1 victory over Whitship from the only place she knows. ney on April 23, creating a four-team ›› POWER PLAYER: Union Mine’s race for first with just a two-game Sarah Phillis has shown plenty of difference separating the group that pop this season, leading D-4 with 6 includes Whitney, Antelope, Corhome runs. The senior first baseman Phillip Walton dova, and El Camino-Sacramento. also leads the division with a 1.263 Taylor Cotton, Whitney Any of the four teams could emerge slugging percentage and .649 batting on top while one of the teams may average, and is in the top four with 30 miss out on the postseason altogether. runs scored and 27 RBI. If she can keep those numbers up ›› VINTAGE YEAR: The Crushers are enjoying perfection in the playoffs, Phillis could power the Diamondbacks to their as they seek their first-ever section championship. Having first section title in the school’s short history. ✪ — Chace Bryson and Jim McCue only appeared in one Divi. I final (finishing as runner-up to

SAC-JOAQUIN softball

Records through April 27 (source: MaxPreps.com)

Rank, Prev. Team

Record

1. (1)

Archbishop Mitty-San Jose

23-0

2. (3)

James Logan-Union City

17-1

3. (2)

Amador Valley-Pleasanton

16-2

4. (4)

Alhambra-Martinez

15-1-1

5. (5)

California-San Ramon

15-3

6. (6)

Vintage-Napa

24-0

7. (8)

Sierra-Manteca

18-2

8. (9)

Woodcreek-Roseville

16-7

9. (10)

Rocklin

20-3

10. (7)

Elk Grove

16-6

11. (13)

San Benito-Hollister

13-2

12. (14)

Casa Roble-Orangevale

18-4

13. (15)

Petaluma

16-1

14. (12)

Carlmont-Belmont

20-3

15. (11)

Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove

15-9

16. (19)

Tracy

20-4

17. (20)

Concord

15-3

18. (NR)

Roseville

17-6-1

19. (NR)

Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills

18-6

20. (NR)

Clayton Valley Charter-Concord

13-2

DROPPED OUT No. 16 Leigh-San Jose (17-6), No. 17 Whitney-Rocklin

(16-8) and No. 18 Ponderosa-Shingle Springs (12-10-1).

BIGGEST MOVER Not a great deal of movement in the upper half of the rankings, though both Tracy and Concord jumped

three spots from 19 and 20 to 16 and 17, respectively.

Heading into the week of April 29, Tracy had won 16 of its past 17 games dating back to March 16. Concord had won 11 straight since a 3-0 loss to No. 13 Petaluma on March 21.

TEAMS STILL RANKED FROM PRESEASON TOP 20: 13 KNOCKING ON THE DOOR Terra Linda-San Rafael (19-2), Salesian-Richmond

(14-1), Leigh-San Jose (17-6), Whitney-Rocklin (16-8), Sheldon-Sacramento (11-11), Freedom-Oakley (11-51), Santa Rosa (14-5), Kimball-Tracy (16-6).

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MLB Draft: Northern California’s Top 5 high school prospects The 2013 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft is right around the corner so it’s time to take a look at who are Northern California’s top high school prospects.

Now, you might be saying, “the draft is in June, that isn’t right around the corner.” You would be correct if only considering the calendar and how many days until the draft. However, a scout’s “pref list” is turned in

by May 1, and from here on out it is all about making sure the paperwork is in, getting last looks at the top guys, and more than anything, getting each player’s signability.

A “pref list” is an area scout’s preferred order of the prospects. Some scouts have deep lists (up to 75 players) and some have shallow lists (maybe as few as 40).

The top ten players won’t be exactly the same for every scout, but in each scout’s top ten there are likely to be at least five common names.

The term “signability” refers to what it will take to sign the player to a pro contract. A high school senior with a scholarship to a major college program will tell clubs how much it will take for him to forgo going to college. Signability isn’t

really supposed to affect how high a player gets drafted or IF he gets drafted, but the reality is that signability has trumped talent in some ways.

According to one area scout, here are NorCal’s top five high school prospects: LHP/1B Matt Krook of St. Ignatius Prep-S.F., OF Jordan Paroubeck of Serra-San Mateo, RHP Chris Viall of Soquel, RHP Carlos Salazar of Kerman and LHP Jonah Wesley of Tracy. He didn’t put them in order, but you can surmise that more than a few others have the same five listed. That doesn’t mean they are the top five of ALL prospects in NorCal because a full list takes collegiate players into account.

Krook has signed with Oregon, Paroubeck and Salazar with Fresno State, Viall with Stanford and Wesley with UCLA. All of those can be considered major college programs, obviously. It is basically a foregone conclusion that kids committed to Stanford will go to school, so Viall likely won’t get serious attention despite his exceptional talent. Krook recently had a

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poor outing in front of a large gathering of draft decision makers and that will affect his draft slot.

UCLA isn’t quite as good as Stanford in getting their players to come to school, but they do get their fair share so Wesley’s signability is likely in question, as will be Krook’s.

Of those players, Paroubeck and Salazar are likely the most signable, simply because a degree from Fresno State and playing baseball in the Mountain West Conference doesn’t quite

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measure up with a degree form Stanford, UCLA or Oregon while playing Pac-12 baseball. That statement isn’t intended to disrespect a great Fresno State baseball program and a fine university, rather, it just reflects part of what is considered in the draft process. ✪

Blaine Clemmens is the founder and director for the Bay Area World Series. For more information, visit www.bayareaworldseries.com

May 1, 2013

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Welcome to Impulse, your one-stop shop for gadgets, gizmos, and gear. Compiled by staff writer Erik Stordahl, Impulse provides you with the latest and greatest and what’s currently hot on the market. We’re getting close to the summer months, which means you’re shopping for a new swimsuit, eliminating that farmer’s tan and planning a vacation. If you’re like us, that means staying in, blasting the AC, eating Cheetos and watching re-runs of I Love Lucy. Let the fun begin!

Wellrox Flip Flops

After wearing the same old flip flops for an entire summer, your feet, posture and balance could be in bad shape come autumn. By using snazzy technology that’s well beyond our comprehension, Wellrox provides a nice, cushiony support while not sacrificing style. Get these flip flops and walk the beaches and shores in comfort. Grab a pair at Macy’s or online at macys.com

Workout goodies

Now that it’s starting to heat up, you’re probably gonna start running more. Here are two essentials you’ll need for working out: iLuv FitActive Sports Earphones — great sound quality with different colors to choose from. They’re ideal for running with their secure fit. Perfect for running or biking. Aduro U-Band — strap in your iPod and run for miles with the comfort and style of this armband.

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KidFest

The can’t-miss event of the early summer just got a whole lot sportier. That’s right, SportStars will be on hand for the three-day Memorial Day Weekend event at Mt. Diablo High. We’re taking over the athletic field and putting on a smorgasbord of skills stations – everything from baseball to rugby to lacrosse.

There’s also going to be carnival rides, face painting, tattoos, cotton candy, tons of goodies and door prizes. Come find us at the SportStars Field of Dreams. For more info go to www.kidfestconcord.com.

Blue & Gold Classic

Oh yes, golf season is in full swing (see what we did there?), which means your calendar’s about to get booked with dozens of tournaments. Don’t miss this one! The Blue & Gold Classic tees off Monday June 3 at Indian Valley Golf Club in San Rafael.

Grab your foursome for the 1 p.m. shotgun start. Contact Patty Brusati at (415) 519-2939 for more info or email her at tsportbru@aol.com.

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Pivot Firebird

Maybe you’re not a beach person and you’ll be spending the summer far away from even a hint of flip flops. In that case, grab Pivot Cycle’s latest Firebird mountain bike. It’s ideal for downhill competitions, racing down Mt. Diablo or just chasing down the ice cream truck.

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training time: tim rudd

5 Speed Training Mistakes To Avoid

The fact is many coaches just get it wrong when attempting to increase the speed and agility of your athletes. Today I want to share my first 5 out of 10 speed training mistakes coaches make. If you want faster and more agile athlete’s then avoid these mistakes at all costs.

Simple example: If your athletes lack ankle mobility they are losing up to 20% of their power output when accelerating and are unable to optimally change direction.

1. Not Assessing — This goes far beyond looking how they accelerate and change direction. Coaches need to assess athletes for possible movement dysfunctions that can be limiting their ability to accelerate and change directions. Most coaches will just focus on technique, which is great, but if your athletes lack mobility or strength then all the technique work in the world will do very little in improving speed and agility.

2. Inadequate warm-up — If the athletes aren’t properly prepared for their speed and agility work, then they will not be moving optimally and their chance of injury is increased. The purpose of the warm-up is to address soft tissue quality, improve muscle length/extensibility, improve mobility of the joints in all planes of movement, elevate core temperature, charge up and prime the nervous system in preparation for the imposed demands of acceleration and agility training. If your athletes aren’t properly warming up, they are not getting better.

3. Too much speed training — The problem with over speed training is simple, it teaches the athletes to over stride. The foot travels in front of the body (rather than under and behind) causing a breaking action, not only does this slow the athlete down it also increases their chance of injuring their hamstring.

The key to speed is not increasing stride frequency for high school athletes, but increasing stride length.

The athlete who gets to point A and B with the fewest steps wins the race. Usain Bolt took only took 46 steps in the 100-meter final and won gold.

4. Turning speed into conditioning — The purpose of speed and agility training is to improve skill and maximal power output. The fact is that speed training is dependent on the ATP/PCR energy system. What does this mean? This system is depleted within 8-10 seconds and needs anywhere from 60 seconds to 3 minutes to fully recover in order to repeat another maximal power effort which is required for improving speed. Some coaches who don’t understand this use way too little rest, which doesn’t allow the ATP/PCR system to fully recover. So instead of improving an athlete’s maximal power output (speed) they only are working on operational output (conditioning), a percentage of maximal power output.

5. Never teaching deceleration — Team sports require many changes of direction (agility). If your athletes are not properly coached on how to land or decelerate properly then they won’t have the ability to change direction well.

The fact is that athletes need to be able to decelerate and overcome their body weight to change in a new direction in response to closing the gap on defense or gain space on offense. Would you get in a plane with a pilot who never learned how to land? I didn’t think so. You’ve heard the saying speed kills; well these mistakes will kill any chance of your athletes getting faster and more agile. ✪ Tim Rudd is an IYCA specialist in youth conditioning and owner of Fit2TheCore.

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every day health: Kent Mercer

JayneSays

Practical tips from WNBA Standout

Jayne Appel, center for the San Antonio Silver Stars and graduate of Carondelet-Concord and Stanford, is the best passing post in the WNBA, and she dishes out great advice to high school athletes who would follow in her All-Star footsteps. For instance, staying in shape isn’t just about conditioning.

“Sleeping, eating and conditioning all go hand-in-hand. If you put garbage in your body, it’s going to perform like garbage,” says Appel, the all-time Pac-10 rebound leader while at Stanford. “Kids have a lot going on, but unless they get Appel eight hours of sleep at night, they won’t perform like they want to.”

Appel often gives athletes practical tips for getting enough sleep and eating right, which means fruits, vegetables and proteins. Good advice for performance and for recovery from inevitable injuries.

“Sleep is a huge part of recovery,” Appel said. “So is eating right, especially in lower-body injuries where you can’t train like you used to. You need to make sure you’re not gaining weight.”

And she tells athletes to listen to rehabilitation specialists.

For Appel, that’s the physical therapy team at Muir Orthopedic Specialists in Walnut Creek, experts she trusts to balance challenging her while holding her back.

“The sports mentality to play through the pain is wrong,” says Appel, who regrets playing through a broken foot her senior season at Stanford. “The trick to rehab is listening to your therapist and allowing your body the time to recover.”

Kent Mercer is a certified athletic trainer for Muir Orthopedic Specialists and De La Salle High.

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get mental: erika carlson

Imagery Practice:

Seeit

DOit rememberit If you are one of the hundreds of athletes who’s been in my office looking to improve your performance, than you’ve heard me say this, “The skill that transforms good athletes to great athletes is imagery.” Scientific studies provide us with evidence that athletes who add imagery practice to their physical practice out-perform those who don’t. These results have been replicated over and over again.

Using imagery (often called visualization) is relatively simple. Let’s use swimming as an example. Replay key starts, strokes, and kicks off the wall in your head. To maximize the power of imagery be sure to follow these best practices: › Perfect Practice — Remember a time when everything felt just right; your technique was great, you stayed on tempo. This is exactly what you need to repeat over and over again.

The greatest advantage of using imagery vs. real life practice is that every rep can be perfect. Repeat, repeat, repeat. › Hit Delete …QUICKLY!! — It’s important to remember that you are learning while you’re imaging (your nervous system is hard at work!). That said, do you want to reinforce that mistake you just made or reinforce the time you got your stroke technique just right?

Delete your mistakes ASAP. › Sensory Details — To get the most out of your imagery reps you must feel (moving through the water), see (the wall or the flags), hear (starting “beep”, cheering), smell (chlorine or salt water).

Just 5-10 minutes each day is all it takes. If you are an athlete looking to level up in your sport, then you can’t afford to NOT practice imagery.

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health watch: mikel jackson

Persistent pain, swelling could be worse than you think A couple weeks ago, a coach friend of mine told me about a sport injury he had that wasn’t going away. He had been scrimmaging with his basketball team when he had felt a sharp pain behind his calf and had to sit down. Initially, he thought the injury was minor and would gradually go away with conservative treatment.

A week later, limping and with no relief from the pain or swelling, he explained to me what had happened. I quickly advised him to schedule an appointment with his medical doctor due to the possibility of having a dangerous injury called “acute compartment syndrome” (or ACS) which can have long-term effects if it remains undiagnosed.

Compartments are areas of the arms or legs that contain muscles, tendons, nerves and blood vessels wrapped together in a sheath of dense, fibrous connective tissue called fascia. The fascia gives support to the soft tissue and keeps the contained materials from displacing by not stretching very much.

When swelling, bleeding or other products of inflammation occur inside a compartment, the increase in pressure on the capillaries, muscles and nerves can result in intense pain and loss of oxygenated blood to the muscle and nerve cells. ACS (such as the kind Los Angeles Dodgers’ second baseman Mark Ellis had last May) can result in necrosis — tissue death so severe that the limb may need amputation if the swelling is not resolved quickly.

ACS can occur during sports due to fractures, impact traumas resulting in bruised muscles, or the wearing of constricting bandages or braces.

Pain is felt within the affected compartment especially when stretched. Sometimes numbness, tingling or burning pain is felt. The areas will typically feel extremely tight and smooth to the touch. The disease condition is diagnosed by physical examination and usually a doctor will measure the pressure within the muscle or fascia to confirm.

ACS is a severe medical emergency that requires a surgical technique called a fasciotomy. A doctor will make an incision to open the fascia tissue and relieve the swelling and pressure. Recovery time can take anywhere from several weeks to a couple months. While most sports-related injuries are not life threatening, ACS can result in amputations or even death. If you have an injury that is more painful than expected, is not healing quickly, or results in dysfunction, always seek medical advice as soon as possible.

Mikel Jackson is an athletic trainer for the staff of Sports Medicine For Young Athletes, a division of Children’s Hospital Oakland.

rotator cuffs: justin dudley

Use caution in rotator cuff strengthening Rotator cuff (RTC) strengthening is something common in many overhead athlete training programs, but many athletes and coaches may actually be doing more harm that good.

The RTC is comprised of four muscles responsible for keeping the ball, or humeral head, centered in the socket throughout shoulder range of motion. As the arm is elevated overhead, the ball has a tendency to want to migrate up in the socket based on the direction of pull of the big deltoid muscle. This upward migration can cause pinching of structures within the shoulder joint causing pain and leading to what is known as sub-acromial impingement.

It is the responsibility of the RTC to minimize this upward migration. Research has shown that exercising the RTC to failure or doing “burn-out exercises” of these muscles decreases the control of the humeral head. By doing so, a fatigued RTC results in upward migration of the ball in the socket even during the simplest daily tasks that require lifting the arm against gravity, increasing the potential for impingement.

This is not to say that the RTC shoulder not be trained. RTC training is an essential component for the health of an overhead athlete’s shoulder. However, training should focus on cuff activation, and caution should be used when building endurance and strength of the RTC to make sure the shoulder workload is not too high. When performing cuff exercises, athletes should feel their muscles working, but should stop prior to fatigue burn. It is important to utilize very light weight, and limit the number of repetitions performed. I typically limit RTC exercises to 8-10 reps.

Crossover Symmetry’s muscle activation program does a great job of activating both rotator cuff and scapula stabilizers without working these muscles to the point of fatigue.

Justin Dudley is an in-house Physical Therapist for Crossover Symmetry, based in Denver.

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powered by trucks: anthony trucks

Train the core for stability, not good beach physique Most people don’t understand the purpose of core training.

Most think the purpose is to attract the opposite gender, when in reality it’s to keep the body capable of transferring force throughout the entire kinetic chain (from feet to head and/ or hands). I find that when I am asked to create a core training program, it’s always about wanting to know what exercises will make abs look best, especially with summer approaching.

Your core is composed of many different abdominal muscle groups and most are not visible from the front of your body, and the true purpose of your core is to make sure you can stabilize and transfer force from your feet up to your hands and vice versa. The core is the link, and if it’s weak you will be as well.

Imagine trying to place a drink on a table held up by one singular wooden or metal cylinder. No problem right? Now imagine placing that same drink on a table held up by a singular pool noodle toy. Not so stable huh? The cores main purpose is to allow full functionality of the body. Not full functionality of your ego.

When training your core, the “side effect” should be a great looking stomach, and the main goal should be trying to ward off future pain as you get older. Make sure to focus on strength and stability of the front abs, side abs, rotational abs, and you lower back muscles to get a strong well-rounded core base that allows you to be strong in posture and healthy well into your later years.

Anthony Trucks is the owner of Trucks Training facility in Brentwood and covers weight training for SportStars.

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BASEBALL/SOFTBALL

All Star Academy of Baseball All-Star Academy in Santa Clara features a 17,000-square foot indoor and outdoor training facility that is home to a variety of instructional programs designed to develop the total player. ASA offers All Skills Camps for ages 7-12, and Summer Boot Camps for 12 & under, middle school, high school competitive athletes. Info: 650-961-2255; www. asabaseball.com Cabernet Baseball Club The Livermore-based club not only hosts The Pitching Center’s Spring Break Baseball Skills Camp 2013, it also is home to training and recreational leagues in other sports — including football, soccer, futsal, softball and lacrosse. Lil’ Baseball offered for ages 3-7.

Info: 925-416-1600, www.cabernetindoorsports.com EJ Sports EJ Sports provides positive, instructive baseball programs that includes camps, teams, conditioning clinics for ages 7-18. We provide an exciting, bully-free environment to help players improve athletically and build confidence. Our instructors possess the capability to teach concepts and relate to youth based on their comprehension level and athletic ability. Our staff consists of qualified coaches dedicated to improving and continually learning newest techniques in baseball. Info: 925866-7199, www.ejsports.com.

The Pitching Center In an effort to develop baseball players to their full potential, The Pitching Center has become the Total Player Center (TPC), a fullservice baseball/softball training academy.

We provide comprehensive, fully-integrated

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programs that evolve based on the best research and information in areas from health/safety, peak performance, education techniques and more. Age- and skill-specific programs available for ages 8-18. Info: 925416-1600, www.thepitchingcenter.com.

BASKETBALL

All Out Sports League Our camps are geared toward teaching fundamentals. Every aspect is covered: dribbling, shooting, layups, passing, cross-overs, defense, help defense, boxing out and more.

Camps open to boys, girls ages 6-16. We hold a multi-week Spring Academy in Clayton, four-day Summer Academy in Antioch.

Info: 925-203-5636 or www.alloutsportsleague.com Bald Eagle Basketball Camp Campers get improved skills, passion for becoming their best. Our unique format gives campers a choice period each day to play more basketball, go swimming, play sports camp games, have fun in our activity arcade — whatever summer fun they choose! This year we’ve ramped up our staff with more coaches who have high level playing and/ or coaching experience, not to mention their PCA Certification like every staff member at Bald Eagle Sports Camps. Info: 888-5052253.

CalStars The Stars Basketball Academy offers youth and high school summer camps. The SBA is a fundamental based skills development camp for kids in third grade-high school. We offer three youth (3rd-8th) sessions and two high school sessions. Camps are conducted

by Clay Kallam (Bentley HS), Kelly Sopak (Miramonte HS), Dan Middleton (Northgate

HS), Raul Reyes (Miramonte HS) and Elgin Leslie (Campolindo HS). Camps also assisted by former high school, college players.

Info: www.calstars.org.

FastBreak Basketball Margaret Gartner, highly-decorated girls basketball coach for Carondelet, leads this girls camp focused on fundamentals. Three weeklong sessions: Session I, June 24-28, Grades 4-10; Session II, July 15-19, Grades 1-6 and Session III, July 22-26, Grades 4-10. Learn, improve basketball fundamentals, skills while having fun. Info: www.FastBreakBball.com; or email Fastbreak_club@yahoo.com Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors will be conducting camps this spring, summer for boys and girls ages 7-15. In addition to high quality instruction, each camper receives a reversible Warriors jersey, headband, certificate, two tickets to a Warriors home game and more.

Info: 510-986-5310 or go to http://warriors. com/camps.

Hawk Basketball Academy We focus on skill development, challenging the individual to push themselves to become the very best. Focusing on: footwork, dribbling, proper shooting technique, reaching your highest level of performance, improving your mental game, preparing for CYO, high school and AAU. Info: 510-943-9252, facebook.com/hawkbasketballacademy.

I’m Possible Training (Mike Allen) Whether you’re beginner or on varsity, this program will help you excel. Improve ballhandling, footwork, shooting, overall fitness.

I’m Possible is a world-renowned basketball program authored by NBA skills coach Micah Lancaster. Mike Allen, head trainer for the Bay Area located in Los Gatos, runs clinics

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for athletes of all levels from pros to AAU and high school. By registering, you can download the program, which lists a library of drills.

Info: 408-224-8503 or email mikeallen@possibletraining.com, www.possibletraining.com/ mikeallen NorCal Courts Basketball Camps Norcal Courts in Martinez covers all major fundamentals: dribbling, passing, shooting, defense, rebounding. The Spring Break Camp is April 1-5: 5th graders (9-11 a.m.), 6th-8th graders (noon-2 p.m.), high schoolers (3-5 p.m.). Sessions have fun, exciting drills that will help them become better players. Camps run by qualified high school coaches from Cal Stars and Cagers Basketball. Info: 925-4575081; www.norcalcourts.com

CHEER

CheerGyms.com Customize our clinics to fit your needs. Cheergyms.com runs the best overnight residential camps. We offer practical, fun material and professional, knowledgeable staff. Camps do not exceed 375 cheerleaders with one staff member for every 15 cheerleaders. Two-day camps also available. Private camps allow you to pick the hours, decide what they will learn.

Camps also available for coaches. Intense Training Camps let you can pick one specific thing to work on for just $10 per student per hour. Info: morton@cheergyms.com, 925-6858176, www.cheergyms.com

ENRICHMENT

Bald Eagle Jr. High Leadership Camp Giving your child a road map to create success is extremely powerful. Our Jr. High Leadership Camp includes tangible experiences working cooperatively with peers, leading groups, public speaking, making friends, un-

derstanding community service, living an active lifestyle through fun camp activities. Info: 888-505-2253.

Dianne Adair Programs Come join any of our eight summer sites for our fun and exciting summer program. Each week campers choose from several camps including sports, fashion, drama, CSI, science and more. In addition to weekly camps, we have weekly field trips to places like an A’s or Giants game, museums, the Jelly Belly Factory, Six Flags, the pool, the movies, parks and the zoo. Field trips and camps vary by site. Offers, rates may vary at any of our nine locations. Info: www.dianneadair.org.

FITNESS

Children’s Hospital “Learn What It’s Like To Be An Athletic Trainer.” Workshop exclusively for high school students, March 1-2. Includes: Overview of careers in sports medicine; ankle injuries and taping techniques; wrist, hand, thumb injuries and taping; knee injuries and RICE therapy; stretching techniques; low back injuries and CORE Training; sports concussions; shoulder injuries, rehabilitation. Class credit, certificate of completion and reference materials. Run

by Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine staff, held in Oakland. Also available: yoga, athletic development, speed camps, circuit training.

Info: 510-428-3558 Fit 2 The Core As a Youth Conditioning, Speed/Agility and Nutrition Specialist with the International Youth Conditioning Association, Fit-2 The Core Training Systems offers innovative approach to getting athletes back on the field. We work on a solid athletic foundation while focusing on individual progress. Instruction in movement

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training, injury reduction, linear/lateral speed development, foot speed and agility, power development, proper weight training techniques and functional strength training. Athletes are closely supervised, with attention on proper technique, safety. We offer 2 days/week or 3 days/week program options. Free two-week free pass. Info: www.fasteryoungathletes.com, 925-639-0907.

Renaissance ClubSport We offer sports, speciality camps for kids 5-12 during school breaks. Participants have funfilled, active breaks as they receive instruction in a variety of sports, activities and projects.

Working parents can take advantage of our extended hours for both morning and afternoon sessions. Families with multiple children receive 10 percent discount for each additional sibling registered for the same week.

Info: 925-942-6344.

Trucks Training Trucks Training was started by people who grew up in the area, experienced the world and came back to provide a service that we feel our community lacks. We have proven records and know what it takes to achieve the next level of sports & fitness safely and effectively. Hometown feel from true hometown people. We offer 1-on-1, group and small group training for both fitness and sportspecific needs. Info: truckstraining.com; 925756-7321

FOOTBALL

All Out Sports League Camps held in Antioch and Clayton. Our four day non-contact camp teaches every position on the football field and are geared toward the fundamentals. Every aspect is covered: blocking, tackling, running, defense, offense, spe-

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cial teams and more. Camps are open to boys, girls ages 6-16. Info: 925-2035636, www.alloutsportsleague.com Diablo Football Camps We offer contact and non-contact camps for players ages 6-14, which take place at Laural Ball Field and Shady Oaks Park in Oakley. Info/registration: 925625-2222, www.DiabloFootball.com.

LinemenInc Camps Utilizing top college coaches and former NFL linemen, LinemenInc has produced a nationally-recognized camp and coach’s clinic. LinemenInc blends a fast paced, technically skill-oriented curriculum with a level of competition not found in other camps. Tuition is reasonably priced and includes camp, room, meals and jersey. In 2012, LinebackerInc was added. Info: www.linemeninc.com.

Next Level Training Combine This spring combine and football camp is April 6 at Emerald Park in Dublin for football players ages 7-18. The camp will feature 10-year NFL defensive back Donovin Darius. Youth camp are 9 a.m-noon, high school camp is 1-4 p.m. Focuses of the combine will include speed, agility, strength, quickness and conditioning. Info: DariusNextLevelTraining.com; 904-290-3320 NorCal Football Camps Led by Ken Peralta, Norcal Football Camps are focused on serving youth ages 7-14. Norcal Flag Football Leagues serve kids entering grades 2-6. Info: Ken, 650-245-3608, norcalyouthfootballcamp@yahoo.com; www.norcalfootballcamps.com.

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GOLF

The First Tee-Contra Costa The First Tee Summer Camp is a youth development program for boys, girls ages 7-18. Participants will learn about golf and life skills and values inherent to the game. We have offerings at courses in Antioch, Concord, Martinez and Walnut Creek. Fee assistance available.

Info: Angela Paradise, 925-686-6262, Ext. 0, www.thefirstteecontracosta.org.

The First Tee-Oakland Participants receive a minimum of 12 hours of instruction over an eight-week period. Instruction is conducted at three City of Oakland affiliate courses. We introduce the game of golf in a way that allows participants to progress with the mechanics required. Offered at little or no cost. Info: 510-352-2002; www.thefirstteeoakland.org The First Tee-Silicon Valley Spring classes begin in early March and seasonal classes are offered at Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course (San Jose) and Palo Alto Golf Course. We welcome participants ranging from 2nd to 12th grade.

Scholarships available. Info: www.thefirstteesiliconvalley.org The First Tee-Tri-Valley We offer seasonal camps for youth ages 7-17, held at the Pleasanton Golf Center.

Life Skills Experience Classes begin in early March. Once-a-week summer slasses also available. Info: 925-4627201; www.TheFirstTeeTriValley.org.

LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Camp All-girls golf camp at Boundary Oak Golf Course taught by highly skilled LPGA and PGA member Teaching Profession-

als. Improve your short game, irons, woods and trick shots. Practice on the range and short game area where we will play a lot of games while building on the fundamentals. Etiquette and character built into the curriculum. Finish by playing nine holes. Info: LPGAKatie@ gmail.com; 925-482-4547

GYMNASTICS

East Bay Sports Academy Summer day camps offer the best in gymnastics, cheerleading, and tumbling. Half-day and full-day camps for girls, boys ages 5 and up for both recreational and competitive athletes. Our 13,000 square foot facility has the newest equipment, including the brand new super-bouncy, safety-rated Weller Spring Floor, which is the largest in the world.

Gymnastics & cheerleading camps: July 15-18, July 22-25, August 5-8, August 12-15. Competitive gymnastics camp (Levels 4 & up): July 8-12. East Bay All-Stars Cheerleading also private minicamps and clinics for all kinds of cheerleading. Info: www.eastbaysportsacademy.com, 925-680-9999 .

HORSEBACK RIDING

Earthquake Arabians Our skilled staff and individual instruction gives each rider an opportunity to advance at his or her own pace while creating individual goals for success.

If a competitive riding program is what you’re looking for, Earthquake Arabians has been continuously successful in the Arabian show ring. Spring and summer camps are around the corner. Info: www. earthquakearabians.com, 925-360-7454.

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LACROSSE

Atherton Lacrosse Join Atherton Lacrosse and learn the basics of the game in their spring, summer and fall camps. Every camper receives access to the best high school, college and professional lacrosse coaches in the Bay Area in a setting with an extremely low coach-to-camper ratio. Every camper receives a free t-shirt. Dates and Info: www.athertonlacrosse.com.

MARTIAL ARTS

USKS Adult and children’s programs, kick box fitness, mixed martial arts. Providing excellence in martial arts instruction and services for the entire family. 925-6829517; www.usksmartialarts.com.

OUTDOOR/ADVENTURE

Bear Valley Mountain Outdoor adventures including kayaking, tennis, cycling, hiking, camp fires and more. Soccer (ages 9-16); archery (9-adult); teen climbing and Bear Valley’s Day Camps for ages 3-18 provide mountain fun. Eight-week, weeklong and day camps. Every camper will have the opportunity to enjoy a selection of mountain activities including: rock climbing, sailing, canoeing, hiking, swimming, disc golf, art and crafts, kayaking, biking, wilderness adventures and more. Info: www. bearvalley.com.

Diablo Rock Gym Offering kids summer camps every week June-August. Ages 6-17; multiple kid and/ or week discounts. Info: 925-602-1000.

Epic Indoor Skatepark Skateboard and scooter camps available

in June, July and November. Only $250 for a week or $50 per day. Skateboard deck or scooter grips included with a full week of camp. Lunch and snack provided. Info: www.epicindoorskate.com.

SOCCER

Gino’s Soccer Academy The official camp of the Walnut Creek Soccer Club, run by WCSC Director of Coaching, Tom Ginocchio, and staffed with WCSC club coaches & players.

Five one-week programs for ages 4-17 in July and August. Along with regular full- and half-day soccer programs, GSA runs the following specialty programs: team camps (recreational, competitive), advanced player academies, high school player academy, goalkeeper academies, all boys/all girls academies. Info: www.ginossocceracademy.com, 925-937-4466 Heritage Soccer Club Two fun-filled sessions: June 24-28, July 22-25. Camp runs from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost for Heritage members is $150 for one session, $250 for both. Non Heritage players: $225/$325. Sibling discounts: $50 each. Heritage camp focuses on learning new skills and honing existing ones. Compete in small-sided games and camp tournaments. Camp also includes keeper and striker training, conditioning, nutrition and developing your mental game. Registration is open to boys and girls ages 7-14. Info: www.

HeritageSC.com West Coast Soccer Programs designed to bring professional experience and guidance to youth players across Northern California. The WCS

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coaching staff has created a curriculum to build the necessary foundation for your child to continue to grow. WCS camps, clinics and training programs create an environment that encourages experimentation and a passion for the game. Info: www.westcoastsoccerclub.com West Contra Costa Youth Soccer League Our program caters to competitive youth players ages 8-9. The main focus is not winning, but on development of total player within framework of a team. We also offer specialized training for strikers and goalkeepers. Younger ages focus on foot skills.

We desire to promote personal responsibility, fitness, sportsmanship and teamwork. Info: 510-7585288, http://wccysl.com.

SWIMMING-DIVING

Sherman Swim School Our year-round schedule allows children and adults to learn, retain and improve their swim skills. We teach from age 9 months to adults, from non-swimmers to competitive. Our private or semi-private lessons allow you to progress at your pace. We also offer beginning and competitive diving classes. Info: 925-283-2100, www.ShermanSwim.com.

TENNIS

ClubSport Valley Vista Our camps are designed so that we touch on every major aspect of the game: stroke production, conditioning, strategy, footwork and psychology. Our low prices help make summer camp more affordable than ever. Eight sessions offered between June 17 and Aug. 16 geared toward players ages 7–16 from beginner to intermediate levels. ClubSport Valley Vista members receive discounted rates. Info: 925934-4050.

VOLLEYBALL

Bay Area Blast Summer Clinics Offering summer skills clinics for players of all ages, skill levels at NorCal Courts in Martinez. Morning clinics for 6th-8th grade girls and boys or players who are beginner/intermediate level. Evening clinics for 9th-12th grade girls and boys or players who are intermediate/advanced level. Info: www. bayareablast.com/summerclinics.html City Beach The City Beach volleyball club is based out of Santa Clara and has achieved a vast amount of national success while sending an array of athletes to the college level. The club offers summer camps and clinics. Info: CityBeach.ClubSpaces.com Pacific Rim Volleyball Through private lessons and opportunity for yearround skills classes, athletes of any age or level can learn and improve the skills to gain a competitive edge. For athletes with limited experience, we help develop solid fundamentals. Our advanced training, for junior levels (12th grade & below) will provide athletes opportunity to excel at becoming elite players in preparation for high school and/or collegiate volleyball. Info: www.pacificrimvolleyball.com.

U.S. Youth Volleyball League Camps are for beginner, intermediate, advanced players for boys, girls. We have a player-to-coach ratio of 8:1. Focus on spiking, serving, setting, passing, blocking, defense, offense and game strategy.

Six-, four- and two-person formats allow kids to play in every position. Registration fee includes a T-shirt, completion certificate, snacks and water. Info: 888988-7985, www.USYVL.org.

the Bay has. Every activity is inclusive of any level athlete, and our message creates encouragement from coaches and teammates. Even the non-sports child will feel motivated to play and love our camp and the highly competitive athlete will feel challenged. It’s the perfect mix of fun activity, message and culture. Ages K-8th grades. Info: 888-505-2253.

Cal Camps Camps are offered in variety of sports for girls, boys ages 5-19, with week-long, half-day, full-day and overnight options. Most camps on campus in Berkeley and are held from June through August.

The 2013 Cal Athletics Camps include the following sports: baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls rowing/crew, field hockey, football, boys and girls golf, girls gymnastics, rugby, boys and girls soccer, softball, boys and girls swimming, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls volleyball and girls water polo. Info: CalBears.com/camps.

City Beach Kids Camp Camps in Fremont for ages 6-15 and are chockfull of activities, including rock climbing, interactive games, free play at the entertainment hub and courts (based upon availability). Camps are offered in 1-, 3- and 5-day session (w/ full- and half-day options) and run from June 20-Aug.30. Spring camps: March 29, April 1-5. Info: CityBeach.com; 510-6512500 x105.

De La Salle Camps Our athletic summer camps provide a fun, skillbuilding week for kids. Camps appeal to local youth with a variety of athletic interests. De La Salle will offer the following sessions: football, track & field, lacrosse, wrestling, quarterback & wide receiver, lineman, volleyball, baseball, soccer, water polo and strength & conditioning. Week-long sessions run June 8-June 27. Info: summercamps@dlshs.org; 925-288-8100, Ext. 7090.

East Bay Youth Sports Association We are a year-round, full-service youth sports organization dedicated to the growth and development of character, sportsmanship, confidence, teamwork, ability and fun. We offer family friendly schedules and a relaxed, enjoyment of sports in a less-thancompetitive atmosphere that offers both the player and their families the best that youth sports can offer. Our camps schedule includes spring break camps for ages 5-12 and summer camps for ages 5-14. Info: www.eastbaysummercamps.com Saint Mary’s College Camps We offer boys and girls overnight, day, team and specialty athletic camps for ages 4-18. Camps include: multi-sport (badminton, basketball, flag football, handball, paddleball, soccer, softball, street hockey, swimming, tennis, volleyball), individual sport camps (baseball, boys basketball, girls basketball, golf, rugby, lacrosse, boys soccer, girls soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball). Each clinic features the head coach of the respective Gaels’ program.

Info: www.smcgaels.com, smccamps@stmarys-ca. edu, 925-631-4386. ✪

WRESTLING

Community Youth Center Offers young athletes opportunity to participate and excel in one of the world’s oldest sports. The program trains, challenges wrestlers at all age groups from kindergarten through high school, and all experience levels. The program is nationally recognized under the guidance of coach Mark Halvorson. Info: 925-671-7070, Ext. 229, www.communityyouthcenter.com.

MULTI-SPORT

Bald Eagle Sports Camps A great blend of non-traditional “ultimate” games along with traditional summer activities, especially the soft-sword “Zaber Games” that no other camp in

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Advertiser Index

❒❒ 1-To-1 Pediatrics.............................................................................................31 ❒❒ All Out Baseball & Softball In Season..............................................................22 ❒❒ All- Star Academy...........................................................................................34 ❒❒ Army National Guard Recruiter..........................................................................5 ❒❒ Bay Area Blast Volleyball Club.........................................................................24 ❒❒ Bay Area Festivals Inc. 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First Tee Of Contra Costa............................................................................38 ❒❒ Trucks Training................................................................................................28 ❒❒ U S Cryotherapy...............................................................................................30 ❒❒ United States Youth Volleyball League............................................................40 ❒❒ Velocity Sports Performance.....................................................................35, 37 ❒❒ World Events...................................................................................................36

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